The Daily Sentinel is the top-ranked newspaper of its size in Colorado after snagging a general excellence award at the annual Colorado Associated Press Editors and Reporters banquet Friday night.

Employees of The Daily Sentinel/GJSentinel.com’s newsroom won 18 awards, including seven first-place honors.

“While these awards pertain only to the newsroom, it’s a celebratory moment inside the entire Sentinel building,” Publisher Jay Seaton said. “I could not be more proud of this team.”

The Daily Sentinel competes in the Division II category, which includes daily newspapers with circulation of 15,000 to 30,000.

The contest includes work published in Colorado’s AP member newspapers from Sept. 1, 2011, through Aug. 31, 2012.

Earning first-place CAPER award honors were: Reporter Dennis Webb for a feature story and for an environmental story; Graphics Editor Robert Garcia for informational graphics; The Daily Sentinel staff for online breaking news; Photographer Dean Humphrey for photo coverage of a continuing story; staff writers Rachel Sauer and Tim Harty for a sports story; and The Daily Sentinel staff for general excellence.